The morning of 13 May 2014 found us in the pristine environs of Navjivini School of Special Education (www.niser.co.in) in Patiala, Punjab. Founded in rented quarters with one student in 1982, the institution now sits pretty in a well-appointed campus. Supported mainly by voluntary donations, Navjivini has 130 children on its rolls and nearly 45 in the boarding house.
2.5 to 3% of the world’s population is mentally challenged. In developing countries this figure is even higher owing to malnutrition during pregnancy. Club this figure with other disabilities like hearing and speech impairment, physical handicap, blindness, etc and the statistics arrive at 10%. Just so we know, 10 in every one hundred people are living with disability.
The civilized person is judged by how well he responds to the needs of the less fortunate.
Dr. N. S. Sodhi, the force behind Navjivini, lives up to this adage. His purpose in life is to sensitize our society – a society bereft of the knowledge that it has in its midst these challenges which have to be understood and overcome. With the Punjabis receiving a lot of flack internationally for the general lack of concern for people with disability a few good folks have come together to address this failing. Bhai Swarnjit Singh (Jathedar, Misl Shaheedan Tarna Dal), Inderjit Singh Waria (Chairman, Ek Noor Svai Sevi Sanstha and Associate of Unique Home, Jalandhar – responsible for setting up 150 centers to empower women as well as caring for abandoned girls), Punpreet Singh (social activist from New Delhi) and Gurcharan Singh (India head, British Sikh Council) assembled at Navjivini to pledge their skills to the common good espoused by Dr. N. S. Sodhi.
A strong message goes out to bring well-intentioned folks together and affect change. Guru Gobind Singh’s Sava Lakh principle empowers and emboldens us to harness this positive energy.
I consider the founders, Dr. N. S. Sodhi and Mrs. Shaminder Kaur Grewal as modern day messiahs bringing sensitization to a society steeped in materialism.
Gurbir Singh Brar
President, Sava Lakh Foundation
Visiting Professor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
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| Dr. N. S. Sodhi addressing the visitors. |
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| Mandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, Navjivini School, elaborates classroom teaching techniques and the reality of working with special children. |
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| Spirited performance by the special children. Song and dance brings out the best in these beautiful children lending cheer and busting stress. |
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| Special children enact a play highlighting the importance of educating girls. |
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| Dr. N. S. Sodhi interacting with (from left to right) Inderjit Singh Waria, Punpreet Singh, Bhai Swarnjit Singh and Baltej Pannu |
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Navjivini Society for Mental Health (Regd.) was founded in 1981 to create services for training and development of Mentally Retarded Children (IMRC). The Navjivini School of special Education, promoted by the Society, had an -humble beginning in 1982 when it started functioning in a rented accommodation. However, presently it has an elaborate infrastructure painstakingly built over the years by a team of dedicated people with serious social concerns. Sardarni Satwant Kaur of Sular graciously donated an acre of land for the school which subsequently has been generously supported by voluntary donations and institutional support aggregating over one crore of Rupees. Blossoming of Navjivini is a tribute to the deep humanism of our society. Sardar S.P.S. Oberoi has donated generously for the construction of another six storey Sunny Tower a II, to meet the expanding needs of accommodation in the school.